seven things of running
by Melancholy's Sunshine
Summary: Seven symptoms of a runner. Each member of the team seeing one of them up close. And seeing one as a team. Do they know runners as well as they think? Or are they the pansy they believe them to be? Maybe high K  or low T. I suck at rating these so tell me


Sweating- Sunday

From being on the surface Kaldur had seen many strange things that he didn't understand. One he witnessed out in a park. It was a cool sunny day with a gentle breeze. He sat on a bench and was reading a book. But something caught his attention. Not the laughing children in the park. But at the panting person in front of him. He was younger than him appearance wise. He was shorter but thinner. He was in an undershirt and a pair of shorts. He had white socks and Velcro tennis shoes he had heard Kid Flash mention. The person was laughing and panting next to a man. He was a red head. The man was a blond.

The older laughed at something the younger said. The younger wiped his brow. Kaldur looked over curiously. He had seen water appear on his teammates in hot weather. It was sweat. But today was cool. Why was he covered in water? Was he swimming earlier?

He pulled out a water bottle and took a drink. The red haired teen came over to him.

"Hey," he said confidently. Kaldur stared into his green eyes.

"Yes?"

"Mind if I have some?"

Kaldur looked at him suspiciously, "Some what?"

"Water. I kind of left my water bottle at home and being dehydrated isn't exactly fun," he chuckled. Kaldur handed him his bottle. The teen poured it like a waterfall into his mouth before handing it back.

"Thanks a bunch," he smiled running back to the blond. Kaldur took a drink of water. But the bottle was wet. He couldn't tell if it was condensation, or sweat from the teen.

Spitting- Monday

Being around Gotham let Robin see many things. It also showed Richard many things. But only rarely did it show Dick something.

While walking around Gotham in civvies he saw a rare sight. A runner. A typical runner like you would see in the movies. Sweat band. Shorts. Undershirt. But oddly enough he wore Velcro running shoes. He reminded him of another runner he knew. With his fiery red hair and ability to stand out in Gotham.

He was sure it was him, until he started to spit. It was quite frankly… rather disgusting. He walked away without another word. Kid Flash maybe disgusting, but he definitely did not spit.

Puking- Tuesday

M'gann liked going shopping. Going to the store allowed her to get different ingredients for her baking. She enjoyed that aspect of earth that she really could not do on Mars. She carried the bags outside and began taking them to her ship when she heard an awful sound. She didn't recognize it, but it sounded painful. Hard and quick gasps for air. Moan in pain. She dropped the groceries and rushed to the sound. She saw someone swaying a bit near a trashcan. Unstable and clenching his stomach.

"Oh my! Are you alright?" she said rushing over to him. He looked at her. His eyes were teary and he forced a smile on his face.

"Yeah. It happens. Y'know. A bit too much running around and you get sick," he said shakily. He gasped heavily and sat down.

"Are you sure? There is a pharmacy here. I could get medicine…"

"I don't need cold medicine. I don't have a cold. But I am addicted to running. Things like this happen," he said trying to comfort her.

"But you're… addicted to running?"

"Yeah. It's my kind of drug," he said with a pained laugh, "When you run, it creates a chemical in your body that makes you happier. So running is kind of like a drug for me."

M'gann gave him a look as he stood up.

"Though, if you have something to eat on you, I would be really grateful," he said with a cheesy grin.

"Uh Hello Megan. I just went shopping," she said going back to her bags that were thankfully still there. She pulled out a candy bar and handed it to him. It was supposed to be for Kid Flash but he almost glowed at the prospect of eating.

"How long have you been running?"

"Dunno. A while I guess," he said running off. M'gann walked to her ship. She didn't see the runner when she was in the air though. It was as though he vanished. She just hoped he wasn't getting sick.

Blowing Snot Rockets- Wednesday

Running was not her favorite thing to do. Shooting an arrow at a target was fun. Beating Kid Idiot when they were sparring was fun. Heck, arguing with him was now enjoyable. But when Gotham _had _to take a trip to boring as snot Central City, home of the biggest idiot and the fastest hero in the world, she was less than thrilled. It was a P.E. field trip. Apparently, some of the best runners in the nation went here. Whether they were good or bad, people seemed to always want to be able to move fast. Flash and Kid Flash were a big part in that. If you wanted to be part of their gallery, you had to be fast. So civilians had to be fast too, because these villains were faster than most. And since the rich kids in Gotham didn't do so much running, the school thought that this would be 'inspirational'. It was just something to get her out of that boring rich kid playground.

"Aw gross man!" laughed a voice. She looked over at a group of Central kids currently having P.E. Girls and Guys were watching the other runners but three of them kept to themselves. Two red heads and a blond with purple highlights. They ran together it seemed. But one had stopped.

"Snot rocket!" yelled the blond. The one with longer red hair smirked as the one with shorter hair spat something out.

"Hey. Its proof that I'm a bigger runner than either of you," he said punching the blond lightly in the arm after wiping his mouth of spit. The girls in her class all looked disgusted. But she could feel her lips curl upward. Bought time the rich kids saw how a semi-normal kid acted.

"Hey! I could make a snot gun," said the blond excitedly.

"Don't. Len would be pissed. And quite frankly, that's nasty," said the longer haired red.

"Hartley," he whined.

"Don't make it James."

"They are so gross," said a girl in her class. She was an annoying preppy girl who had probably never worked a day in her life. Artemis wanted nothing more than to punch her face.

"Hey Beautiful," called a voice. She turned. The red short haired boy smiled at her, "I here Gotham is full of slow pansies."

"They maybe pansies," she said receiving a group of people yelling hey from her class, "But I'm not."

"Oh! Think you can take the Wall-man?"

"Bring it Snot Rocket," she said stepping onto the track.

Blisters- Thursday

Being Kryptonian had advantages. Being strong. Enhanced hearing and eyesight. Almost immediately being told he was going to be a hero (bit of a stretch on that one but he wasn't going to be a villain). But what he liked best was his near invincibility. He was grateful for that most not when he was on a mission, but when he saw a civilian with a pack of band-aids.

"Ow. Jeez," said the civilian sitting on a bench in town. Conner watched as the person removed his shoe. White patches of skin were on the bottom of his feet. He began placing band-aids with Superhero designs all across the bottom of his feet. Wherever there was a patch of white skin. It contrasted his tan that looked strange with his red hair.

"What's wrong with your feet?" Conner asked innocently. G-gnomes didn't tell him anything about whatever this civilian was going through. The civilian looked up. He was a teen.

"Oh, the blisters?" he asked.

"I guess," said Conner.

"You guess? Have you never had a blister before?"

Conner shook his head.

"It's something that happens when skin rubs against something. Making dead skin. It's a bit complicated," he said rubbing the back of his neck, "They're a bit of a pain but new healthy skin grows underneath. It'll heal up in a bit. Strange though. I thought my feet were too callused to get blisters there anymore.

"Callus?"

The teen held up his hand. Skin rough and hard.

"It shows hard work. Each callus was made from hard work and blisters. Lots and lots of blisters."

Conner looked at him strangely as he stood up. He looked at the box of band-aids and pulled one out. He opened it up and put it on his nose.

"And also band-aids," he said then tossing him the box. He took off running while Conner was trying understand what had just happened.

Blood Draws- Friday

Zatanna sat in the doctor's office nervously. She hated going to the doctors. She preferred just a magical exam by her father. But her father was now gone. Possessed by Doctor Fate, Lord Nabu. So she now had to get a regular checkup from a doctor suggested (told to go to) by Batman. She sat in the seat fidgeting slightly.

"Your all done," she heard the nurse say. She looked up at whoever she was talking to. He was a teen in a flash shirt. Messy red hair and green eyes. He had a band-aid on his arm. A Green Arrow band-aid. He walked right up to her.

"Hi. New to here?" he asked. She nodded her head.

"Don't worry. Everyone here is great. I think you'll like them. You aren't afraid of needles are you?" he asked.

"No. Why do they experiment on people?" she asked with her imagination running wild. The teen laughed.

"Oh man no. They take blood donations. They ask if you want to be a donor and if you do you can donate blood during your checkup."

"Is that what you did?" she asked referring to his band-aid.

"No. Just some routine blood work. Part of being a runner and all," he said shrugging his shoulders. He looked around the office, "Do you want me to go in with you?" he asked.

"No. I think I'll be good."

He smiled and left the office. Zatanna felt a bit better as she was called back to see the doctor.

Eat Like A Pig- Saturday

For one reason or another, no one could believe that somehow Kid Flash and Robin had convinced the entire team and Red Arrow (Roy) to all sit down on Saturday for dinner and a movie marathon. Pizza, popcorn and soda of all kinds lay around the eating area of the mountain.

"Oh this will be so much fun!" M'gann exclaimed excitedly, "It's good to have everyone together for a meal."

Wally looked at the food intently.

"So can we eat yet babe?" he asked. Artemis smacked him on the back of the head.

"Would you shut your mouth for once?" she snarled. Wally gave her a glare.

"Now why would I do that?" he asked with a devious smile. Roy gave him a look.

"So what have you been up to since I've been gone," Roy asked. He might as well get the 'What the Hell' updates over with.

"The same…," Robin began.

"…going to school…," Conner added.

"…having missions…," Kaldur added.

"...hanging out…," Artemis put in.

"…fighting villains…, said Zatanna

"…having fun…," M'gann stated. Then Roy looked at Wally.

"You know. The same. Sweating, spitting, puking, blowing snot rockets, getting blisters, blood drawn and eating like a pig. You Roy?"

Everyone sans Roy and Wally looked shocked.

"Oh the same. GA is still trying to talk to me. I'm still solo…"

"Still failing in trying to get her to go out with you," Wally added.

"Wait a minute," Robin interrupted, "KF, you were sick and you didn't tell me?"

"…What are you talking about?" Wally said eating another slice of pizza.

"Dude, what's wrong with you?"

"I'm addicted to running. Those are the seven signs of a runner," he said continuing to eat like nothing happened, "Wait… something weird things did happen to me. I saw Kaldur in the park reading a book on my run with Flash, Some dark haired kid with blue eyes giving me a disgusted look when I spat, M'gann was at the store when I was puking, I could swear an Artemis look-a-like from Gotham came to my school when I was running in gym class with Hartley and James, I gave some guy a band-aid across his nose after talking about blisters, and then I saw Zatanna at my doctor's office."

"Wally."

"Yeah Roy?" 

"You're an idiot."

"What?" he asked as everyone except Roy left the table and went in their own directions.

"Guys?"

**I saw these written on the back of cross country shirts and I was compelled. **


End file.
